Abstract: PROCESS 2D aims to create an innovative 3D vision-guided robotic system with the goals of state-of-the-art performances and HW-cost reduction by means of the minimization of its complexity. Robot guidance, in industrial automation, means the procedure by which a vision system can locate an object in space by providing position coordinates to the robot and correcting its path, programmed during its installation and calibration. Through this procedure the system can cope with variations in the position of the object or robot, which occur frequently in production lines for product or format changes, thus enabling its picking or placing.

The project idea is based on a software that has the ambition to be agnostic regarding camera brands, controllers and robots. The goal is to receive as input 2D images using an iterative approach to estimate the object position and calculating the distance data. After a teaching phase where one or more photos are taken on a rigid object to be picked, this part is placed with a generic roto-translational error. The system is able to update a reference frame allowing the robot to re-define the grasp/pose. Starting from a proof-of-concept prototype of TRL 4, the proposed solution will reach a TRL 5 by the end of the project.
The PROCESS 2D vision guidance solution has the potential to satisfy many applications in which wider field of views, flexibility and low installation and maintenance costs are expected. The addressed target applications are industrial automation solutions for the production and disassembly of batteries for e-mobility and for the dismantling of automotive parts like engines and gearboxes with the goal of remanufacturing, reconditioning and dismantling. Other target sectors are shipbuilding and household appliances (i.e. robot guidance of refrigerators modules), etc.
The PROCESS 2D project meets the requirements of MIND4MACHINES as it aims to create an ICT solution in the fields of Industry 4.0, sensor technology and SW, responding to the industrial challenge of flexible manufacturing systems/smart robotics. This is developed by a SME, Novasis Innovazione, suppling turn-key vision solutions for the manufacturing sector and a large company, Comau FR, offering industrial robotics and automation solutions.